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So, not that I don't understand the desire to use BG Teela as a unique character, because I do - but, I do think it's maybe a questionable choice to include a completely custom Bio in a work labeled as an "encyclopedia". I know Gbakok used the DC Comics "savage" Teela image for his Sharella bio too (with a different preternia origin and story).

Obviously this is your work to do with as you please. But the work is SO good that I can see it being used as a resource for information on the figure line so I guess I'm wondering about the choice to insert your creativity into the work in this way. I can just see a future collector asking if anyone has the She-Rella figure for sale after using your work as reference.

Are there other figure you may do this with as well? For example will you do 3 entries for Vykron - treating each armored look as a separate character as many collectors (including me) do? Or will you stick with the bio Mattel produced explaining those extra armors?

Again, please don't take this as criticism, but I'm legitimately wondering about your plans for handling this kind of stuff.

Also, as an editing issue - under "Relationships" for She-Rella you list : She-Rella (wife) which I think suggests she's married to someone with the same name (and of the same gender) as herself. I think you may have meant to list Vikor as her husband there, unless I'm misinterpreting how that part works

So, not that I don't understand the desire to use BG Teela as a unique character, because I do - but, I do think it's maybe a questionable choice to include a completely custom Bio in a work labeled as an "encyclopedia".

So, a little background on this project: originally, this was just something I was going to do simply for myself. The left page of each spread is wish-fulfillment on my part; this was how I wished Mattel had handled the card backs for each character — bio, powers, weaknesses, etc. Instead, all we got were the bios, and I found those to be seriously lacking in almost every instance. So I set out writing my own canon and "fixing" parts of the bios and story line that I didn't like, and adding in some ideas of my own that don't have any precedent in any canon. For instance, the many forms of vision I have given to Tri-Klops borrows heavily from Superman's various forms of vision, most of which Tri-Klops has never actually demonstrated. So, while She-Rella/Battleground Teela is the most obvious insertion of my own ideas into this project, she's not the first instance by far.

Originally Posted by PantherCult

Obviously this is your work to do with as you please. But the work is SO good that I can see it being used as a resource for information on the figure line so I guess I'm wondering about the choice to insert your creativity into the work in this way.

I guess I never had such a lofty notion to consider this ever being used as a serious resource. But really you could almost split each spread down the middle: the left side is fan fiction, and the right side is where most of the true MOTUC collection information is stored. The forthcoming encyclopedia from Dark Horse is really going to render the left page of each spread completely moot in the eyes of most collectors.

I guess I'm not sure how to best proceed. What I could do (and what would make my job infinitely easier) is to pare this down to a true MOTUC Encyclopedia — the only character bio copy would come straight from the card backs, and I would drop all the other character-specific information (powers, weapons, weaknesses, etc.), as that information is more fitting for the general MOTU encyclopedia. I could (and would) continue to write my own canon, but I'd keep that just for myself and not include it in this guide. What say you, good people?

Originally Posted by PantherCult

Are there other figure you may do this with as well? For example will you do 3 entries for Vykron - treating each armored look as a separate character as many collectors (including me) do? Or will you stick with the bio Mattel produced explaining those extra armors?

I think Battleground Teela was the only one I was going to turn into a completely new character, although I have been struggling in advance to figure out how to produce a spread for the likes of Point Dread Teela or any of the FILMation figures — figures that deserve an entry but don't really warrant a whole new bio page. If I was to focus on this solely being a MOTUC toy guide, I wouldn't have to worry about justifying such figures from a story perspective. It would probably also mean going back and creating entries for such things as the weapons paks and figure stands, if this is going to be a consecutive, all-inclusive guide.

Not sure what to do. Just typing out loud at the moment...

Originally Posted by PantherCult

Again, please don't take this as criticism, but I'm legitimately wondering about your plans for handling this kind of stuff.

Nope, I love the feedback because it means other fans care about what I'm doing, even if it means I'm doing it wrong at the moment. Until I make a final decision on how to proceed (whether to continue as I have been or to revisit the entire approach), tomorrow I'll create a second "She-Rella" spread with all Battleground Teela information, for those who'd rather I didn't tinker with the character in that way.

Originally Posted by PantherCult

Also, as an editing issue - under "Relationships" for She-Rella you list : She-Rella (wife)

So, PantherCult got me thinking yesterday about the scope of this project... whether it should continue as a mix of my own fan fiction and a toy guide, or whether it should just be a pure MOTUC Toy Encyclopedia, as the thread title has said all along. So today I worked on the next entry, Man-E-Faces, and approached it as a toy guide entry only, using the original bio (horrible writing intact) and fleshing out the appropriate images and such. Take a gander, and let me know what you think and whether this should be the direction this guide should go in. Thanks!

Last edited by Wakko; July 10, 2017 at 03:27pm.
Reason: Updated the bio section

So, at the risk of sounding like a total hypocrite - I think I did prefer your extended bios incorporating information from multiple sources It was just the creation of essentially a new character that caught me off guard.

The Man-E-Faces entry works great too though and won't complain at all if that's the route you take going forward.

I love this project either way and am happy to use it in whatever format you see fit - and hey, if you find yourself inclined to do separate bios for the other Vykron armors I can totally hook you up (Tank Top and Space Ace FTW)

So, at the risk of sounding like a total hypocrite - I think I did prefer your extended bios incorporating information from multiple sources

You total hypocrite!

Originally Posted by PantherCult

The Man-E-Faces entry works great too though and won't complain at all if that's the route you take going forward.

Right now, I am thinking I'll continue in this direction. We're one week away from getting an official MOTU encyclopedia from Dark Horse, so much of the information I'd been compiling under the bio section is about to become completely moot. Meanwhile, I'm guessing there's no MOTUC toy guide on the horizon since the line is still alive, so making this project a pure toy guide feels more worthwhile.

One thing I might do, however, is finesse the bios without changing any of the actual information. These are just horribly written. Just as a for instance, Man-E's bio makes it sound like his strength is loyal to evil (in actuality, it's supposed to say that Man-E-Monster is loyal to evil, but it sure isn't written that way). So at the risk of not being a complete purist here, I think I will rewrite the bios (without, as I said, inserting my own ideas).

Originally Posted by PantherCult

I love this project either way and am happy to use it in whatever format you see fit - and hey, if you find yourself inclined to do separate bios for the other Vykron armors I can totally hook you up (Tank Top and Space Ace FTW)

I did consider whether to make Vykron three separate characters, and I would display him as such in my collection if I had three of him (but alas, I only have one, so he remains in Tank Top mode).

So, PantherCult got me thinking yesterday about the scope of this project... whether it should continue as a mix of my own fan fiction and a toy guide, or whether it should just be a pure MOTUC Toy Encyclopedia, as the thread title has said all along. So today I worked on the next entry, Man-E-Faces, and approached it as a toy guide entry only, using the original bio (horrible writing intact) and fleshing out the appropriate images and such. Take a gander, and let me know what you think and whether this should be the direction this guide should go in. Thanks!